Johanna Flaum, Head of Contemporary Art Day sales at Sotheby’s New York, commented:
As we saw last night, The Sender Collection attracted huge competition as bidders sought works from this pioneering group of artists driving the total to $14 million, well over the high estimate and with multiple artist records. Demand was strong for artists including Cindy Sherman and Richard Prince as well as for younger artists like Tony Lewis and N. Dash who were making their auction debuts.
There was also intense competition for paintings by the giants of our category with a prime example of Andy Warhol’s late Car Series from the Collection of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum comfortably exceeding the high estimate to sell for $4 million, a 1963Untitled Alexander Calder mobile fetching $1,925,000, and the 1943 Petit Sergent Major by Jean Dubuffet selling for $1,805,000.
Outstanding prices were also seen for more recent work, with paintings by Mark Bradford; David Hammons, sold to benefit the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis; and a record-setting Elizabeth Peyton all soaring over their high estimates.